AmeriCorps team spruces up Girl Scout camp, midstate landmarks

LIZELLA -- In recent years, Girl Scouts didn’t venture into the Ranger Unit cabins in an overgrown section of Camp Martha Johnston.

After a couple weeks of hard labor, though, seven AmeriCorps workers have cleared trails, removed old roof shingles and put a fresh coat of paint on the buildings.

“We painted the cabins in a neutral color, but we painted the shower house and the bathroom in bright colors,” said Ronald “Doc” Holiday, the assistant property director for Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. “When the kids come out for summer camp, it’ll brighten things up for them.”

Delta 4 team members from the Southern Region AmeriCorps campus in Vicksburg, Mississippi, are wrapping up their time in Middle Georgia.

In mid-July, they built a new bridge at the Ocmulgee National Monument and cleared invasive Chinese privet from the grounds.

A couple weeks later, they helped mark boundaries at the Piedmont National Wildlife Reserve.

“I personally like working outside more because it’s just a lot more freeing,” said Heather Copas, 21, of Columbus, Ohio.

Courtni Suber, 19, of Dover, Delaware, finds painting relaxing.

“But it is one of the things where the time doesn’t fly by as fast,” Suber said. “But it’s enjoyable, definitely, just to see your progress.”

After growing up in Iowa farm country, 19-year-old Michael Holzer is no stranger to hard labor, but this trip was his introduction to the South.

“I really enjoy the heat. Actually, I really love the humidity and I love the weather here,” he said.

What he appreciates most about AmeriCorps is the opportunity to make decisions about his future.

“If I were to go to college right now, I wouldn’t know what I wanted to do,” Holzer said. “So this has given me time to travel America, work a bunch of different jobs to give me perspective of what I could do.”

Team leader Maya Severson grew up in Minnesota, but she calls California home now.

Living and working with the same half-dozen people from February until November is teaching her valuable lessons in teamwork.

“Just being able to give back to different communities and see such a wide variety of places in such a short amount of time is really ... it’s just really amazing,” Severson said.

Kristy Fleck, a 21-year-old from Rice, Minnesota, will not only take away new life skills from the program but a different view of herself.

“I’ve learned just how to interact and come out of my shell more, and it’s been really rewarding for me,” she said.

Holliday is so pleased with the team’s work, he is hoping to have AmeriCorps come back to work on other cabins at the camp.

”They work hard,” he said. “They’ve been a major asset.”

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303 and follow her on Twitter@liz_lines.

This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "AmeriCorps team spruces up Girl Scout camp, midstate landmarks ."